Month: June 2012

Ten Best Script and Hand-written Google Web Fonts

The following fonts and 8 more were discovered at DesignShack, where they not only introduce 10 great handwriting fonts, but they also provide you with the html and css codes. Check them all out at DesignShack!    Pacifico Pacifico is just a great, round and loopy script that really has a unique feel to it. … Continue reading “Ten Best Script and Hand-written Google Web Fonts”

The following fonts and 8 more were discovered at DesignShack, where they not only introduce 10 great handwriting fonts, but they also provide you with the html and css codes. Check them all out at DesignShack!

  

Pacifico

Pacifico is just a great, round and loopy script that really has a unique feel to it. It’s hard to find a thick script with such nice curves and so much character so be sure to bookmark this one.

For Codes and more fonts go to DesignShack

Lobster Two

Lobster needs no introduction, it has become one of the most ubiquitous scripts on the planet in the last few years. Version two gives you the choice between bold and thin versions.

For codes and more fonts go to DesignShack

 

Media Services Whiteboard: New Acquisitions!

Check out these titles available from the Media Services Home Use Collection: Dick Tracy – HU DVD 10036 Brothers – HU DVD 10020  Sucker Punch – HU DVD 10038 Community Seasons 1 & 2 – HU DVD 10001 – 10008 Mid-August Lunch – HU DVD 10037  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – HU DVD 10028 … Continue reading “Media Services Whiteboard: New Acquisitions!”

Check out these titles available from the Media Services Home Use Collection:

Dick Tracy – HU DVD 10036

Brothers – HU DVD 10020 
Sucker Punch – HU DVD 10038
Community Seasons 1 & 2 – HU DVD 10001 – 10008
Mid-August Lunch – HU DVD 10037 
Certified Copy – HU DVD 10031
Like Crazy – HU DVD 10057

3 Silver Docs 2012 articles from Pat Auderheide and the Center for Social Media

                The following three stories are from the Center for Social Media blog and were written by Pat Aufderheide. Public TV and Documentarians at Silverdocs  Posted by Patricia Aufderheide on June 21, 2012 At this year’s Silverdocs film festival, the largest documentary festival in the nation, public television … Continue reading “3 Silver Docs 2012 articles from Pat Auderheide and the Center for Social Media”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following three stories are from the Center for Social Media blog and were written by Pat Aufderheide.

Public TV and Documentarians at Silverdocs 
Posted by Patricia Aufderheide on June 21, 2012
At this year’s Silverdocs film festival, the largest documentary festival in the nation, public television had a central role. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was the lead sponsor, and on a panel I had the pleasure of moderating, PBS had some good news for independent documentarians: It’s showcasing indie work like never before.

PBS announced its new lineup, which puts Independent Lens and POV—the two pubtv series that feature point-of-view, authorial indie work—in a great spot on Monday nights after the popular Antiques Road Show and its reality-show spinoff, Market Wars. (Did you know PBS had a “collectibles night”? That’s the night that indies are moving into, according to PBS’ Donald Thoms.) Kartemquin’s Tim Horsburgh explained that PBS made the move after indies wrote a letter—signed by a thousand people—protesting a move that had dropped the shows from PBS’ main schedule. Thoms pointed out that discussions were already underway. Read more

Silverdocs’ Hottest Topics: Are Filmmakers Journalists? Can Filmmakers Help Themselves?
Posted by Patricia Aufderheide on June 21, 2012
AJ Schnack sure knows how to stir up trouble.  His panel, “Hot Topics,”at Silverdocs, became one of the most talked-about at the fest for pushing the hot button of ethics.

Both audience and panelists (Hot Docs curator Charlotte Cook, producer Daniel Chalfen, film producer Esther Robinson, IDA’s Michael Lumpkin and I) noted a rash of doc-related scandals (harassment of Josh Fox; Joe Berlinger’s failed attempt to keep Crude outtakes away from litigants; Fredrick Gertten’s run-ins with Dole over Bananas!; the federal government’s surveillance of Laura Poitras after The Oath) . Read more

Is This What a Documentary Looks Like? Silverdocs 2012
Posted by Patricia Aufderheide on June 27, 2012
Silverdocs, the largest documentary film festival in the U.S., showcased a striking range of documentaries this year, and of course far more of them than I could ever hope to see.  The styles ranged from highly personal to big-picture essay, from meditative to thriller-paced, from celebrity-focused to featuring the people you usually pay no attention to.  The commonality?  All the ones I saw richly rewarded my attention.

At Work, On Screen
I’m a sucker for films that feature workplaces. The cultures of work, something most of do for most of the day, are a big hole in American movie storytelling.  The challenges of working people at work go untold, mostly, in the movies. (Compare this to TV, where there are plenty of workplace programs, and some of it—think of The Wire, or Six Feet Under, or The Office, which are funny, dramatic and insightful all at once.) 

At Silverdocs, I loved watching Downeast, A. Sabin and David Redmon’s tracking of the reopening of a closed Maine sardine factory as a lobster processing plant. The locals distrust the new Italian owner (not a local), but they love having a job. The owner wins their attention but struggles with the banks.  Betting the Farm tells a similar story of an attempt to set up a milk distributor for Maine’s rural dairy farmers; the film needs a serious haircut, but the bones of the story are great. Drivers Wanted follows a new driver navigating taxi work. Directed by Joshua Z Weinstein and written and edited by Jean Tsien (whose dad was a cab driver), it’s not only a window into the world of the drivers but a commentary on an economy that drives such a wide array of the formerly employed through the front door of the New York taxi business featured in the film. Job creation at the grassroots is full of drama, as well as frustration. Read more

 

Fair Use Question of the Month: Digitizing & Streaming Videos from a University Library

This was originally posted by Kate Bieze on the Center for Social Media blog. This month’s fair use question comes from an employee in the IT department at  a unversity library who is looking to take advantage of fair use in order to fulfill a professor’s request. Dear Center for Social Media, I work in … Continue reading “Fair Use Question of the Month: Digitizing & Streaming Videos from a University Library”

This was originally posted by Kate Bieze on the Center for Social Media blog.

This month’s fair use question comes from an employee in the IT department at  a unversity library who is looking to take advantage of fair use in order to fulfill a professor’s request.
Dear Center for Social Media,

I work in the IT department at a university library. A professor at the school is teaching a summer course and wants to assign his students to watch scene from a few videos we have in our library, then write a response to portrayals of gender in those scenes. As this summer course is taught primarily online, the professor has asked that, rather than placing the videos on reserve in the library, copies of the videos be made available to stream. Could this be fair use? What precautions should I take to ensure a strong fair use argument?

Thanks,

Matt


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Matt,

The first principle of the The Code of Best Practices for Academic and Research Libraries states that “it is fair use to make appropriately tailored course-related content available to enrolled students via digital networks”. However, you are right to take certain precautions when making this content available digitally in order to demonstrate that you are transforming the source material and are only using as much of the source material as is necessary for the transformative use.

If the course is only for the summer, the material should be made available only for that time, and the material should be made available only to those participating in the course. The amount used depends on the pedagogical need and presumes that the material was not created for those very pedagogical purposes, so if a professor has a strong pedagogical reason to show the entire film, this could qualify as fair use. However, as the professor only wants to show certain scenes from each video, then rather than digitizing the entire video, only the scene required for the assignment should be made available online. And as always, full attribution should be provided for the work. If you, the professor teaching the course, or the professor’s students have any questions about fair use, check out some of our other fair use resources on the Center for Social Media’s site.

Writer/Director Nora Ephron dies at age 71

Nora Ephron, the writer and director responsible for some of the most charming movies in recent memory, passed away Tuesday at the age of 71 from a bout with leukemia. In her illustrious career, Ephron wroteSilkwood, When Harry Met Sally and My Blue Heaven as well as wrote and directed Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, Michael and most recently Julie … Continue reading “Writer/Director Nora Ephron dies at age 71”

Nora Ephron, the writer and director responsible for some of the most charming movies in recent memory, passed away Tuesday at the age of 71 from a bout with leukemia. In her illustrious career, Ephron wroteSilkwood, When Harry Met Sally and My Blue Heaven as well as wrote and directed Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, Michael and most recently Julie and Julia.
Excerpted from Slash Film


Nora Ephron’s obituary in the LA Times

These titles are available for checkout from the Media Services Home Use Collection:


Silkwood – HU DVD 1647 (Writer)
When Harry Met Sally – HU DVD 4936 (Written by)
Sleepless in Seattle – 7214 (Director, Screenwriter)
Julie and Julia – HU DVD 7096 (Director, Screenwriter)

Breathtaking Examples of Minimal Color and Beautiful Color in Web Design

Minimal Color See more examples of minimal color in web design as seen on Web Design Ledger.Beautiful Color See more examples of beautiful color usage in web design as seen on Web Design Ledger.

Minimal Color


































See more examples of minimal color in web design as seen on Web Design Ledger.


Beautiful Color


































See more examples of beautiful color usage in web design as seen on Web Design Ledger.

Chronological Pulp Fiction Infographic

Digital media designer Noah Daniel Smith designed this cool infographic which illustrates the film in chronological order. View a larger version. As seen on Slashfilm You can also check out a high-speed two minute video version below or the regular speed version, which is available from the Media Services Home Use Collection: Pulp Fiction – … Continue reading “Chronological Pulp Fiction Infographic”

Digital media designer Noah Daniel Smith designed this cool infographic which illustrates the film in chronological order. View a larger version.
As seen on Slashfilm

You can also check out a high-speed two minute video version below or the regular speed version, which is available from the Media Services Home Use Collection:

Pulp Fiction – HU DVD 1244
 

Here are a few other Quentin Tarantino films available to AU students, faculty, and staff for 3 day loan from the Media Services Home Use Collection:

Reservoir Dogs – HU DVD 4676
Jackie Brown  – HU DVD 2988
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 – HU DVD 793
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 – HU DVD 794
Death Proof – HU DVD 5202

Inglourious Basterds – HU DVD 7555

Summer Software Training at the New Media Center

The New Media Center is located on the lower level of the library past the Technology Services desk, next to Media Services. The NMC conducts open workshops on a variety of topics related to multimedia production. These 30 to 60 minute sessions are open to all AU faculty, staff and students with all levels of … Continue reading “Summer Software Training at the New Media Center”

The New Media Center is located on the lower level of the library past the Technology Services desk, next to Media Services. The NMC conducts open workshops on a variety of topics related to multimedia production. These 30 to 60 minute sessions are open to all AU faculty, staff and students with all levels of multimedia production experience. There are usually four or five workshops held each week. There is no fee for these workshops and no RSVP is necessary. Check the NMC calendar for the latest schedule. For more information, contact the NMC staff (202) 885-2560.

There is a wealth of multimedia training resources available online. AU faculty, staff and students have access to thousands of hours of free training atLynda.com. Create a personal profile and get started. More information about resources can be found at Multimedia @ AU.

The AFI Discovery Channel Silver Docs Festival has begun!

The 10th Annual AFI Discovery Channel Silver Docs Documentary Festival: June 18-24, 2012Silverdocs encompasses a seven-day international film festival and five-day concurrent conference that promotes documentary film as a leading art form, supports the work of independent filmmakers and fosters an atmosphere for public dialogue and civic engagement around the issues and ideas explored in the … Continue reading “The AFI Discovery Channel Silver Docs Festival has begun!”

The 10th Annual AFI Discovery Channel Silver Docs Documentary Festival: June 18-24, 2012
Silverdocs encompasses a seven-day international film festival and five-day concurrent conference that promotes documentary film as a leading art form, supports the work of independent filmmakers and fosters an atmosphere for public dialogue and civic engagement around the issues and ideas explored in the films.

Silverdocs plays host to more than 27,000 attendees from across the globe with a diverse range of films, filmmakers and film subjects representing more than 60 countries.  
Silverdocs takes place in and around downtown Silver Spring, Maryland – just minutes from downtown Washington, DC – at the AFI Silver Theatre, the flagship theatre of the AFI, one of the premier film exhibition spaces in the country, and the top art house cinema in the region.
Silverdocs was created through a unique alliance between AFI and the Discovery Channel, the festival’s Founding Sponsor.